


she's magic. there's no lie in her fire

by ourlovelybones



Category: SKAM (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Fluff, So much fricking fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-22 02:28:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10687911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ourlovelybones/pseuds/ourlovelybones
Summary: {It starts the night Eva nearly burns down their entire apartment complex}Noora can’t help but look at her fondly, not even trying to hide the giant smile spreading over her face. “Are you usually this flirty with strangers?”Eva’s still slightly frozen as she stutters, “I’m drunk?”“It’s 17:29.”“I’m … still hungover. From the weekend.”“It’s Wednesday?”





	she's magic. there's no lie in her fire

The first time Noora meets Eva is after the latter has nearly set their apartment complex on fire.

Or, at least, that’s what their landlord claims when everyone has to evacuate their apartment at two in the morning, in the frigid January air of Oslo. 

Noora was already awake, working on her article for the newspaper at UiO. She had just been in the middle of a profound paragraph when her fire alarm started screeching. Commotion erupted in the hall outside, her neighbors cursing and shouting. Noora took that as her cue to pull her fluffy bathrobe over her thin pajamas and hurry outside.

She immediately sees Eva Kviig Mohn, biting her nails and running her fingers through her pretty mermaid waves, as she exits the building. She recognizes her from University - Eva was in her Spanish class last semester. Noora only stayed in the course for a week before she was transferred to a more intensive French class and she never saw Eva around after that.

Eva’s in striped pajamas pants and a navy, over-sized hoodie, while she looks anything but comfortable. Worry is written all over her face, clouding her deep hazel eyes.

“Eva, right? I’m Noora.” Noora introduces herself as she walks up to her. Eva has a car parked in the garage. Maybe, if Eva also has class tomorrow, Noora could catch a ride with her instead of having to catch the bus.

Eva nods, rubbing her hands on her arms for warmth. “I remember you from Spanish. By the way, I am _so_ sorry about all of this. I understand if you hate me but I really didn’t mean to -“

“What are you talking about?” Noora cuts her off, not unkindly. Her breath comes out in white clouds between them.

Eva blinks. “Oh. I thought you were coming over here to yell at me, like everyone else. The fire alarm was my fault.”

That’s news to Noora. “What happened?” 

“You’re going to think I’m stupid.” 

She raises an eyebrow. “No, I won’t.”

“Yes, you will.”

“ _Nei_.”

“ _Ja_.”

They could go on like this all night but Noora has become very curious as to _why_ they’re out there in the freezing cold. “Try me.”

Eva stares at Noora for a long moment, and then sighs, looking up towards the sky. “I might have accidentally burned chocolate.”

This time, Noora stares at Eva. Her face can only remain neutral for so long, before she purses her lips tightly to suppress the bubbling giggles inside of her. She can only suppress the giggles for so long, before she’s laughing - the only happy sound in a crowd of angry tenants at two a.m.

Eva looks at her warily. 

“How do you,” Noora tries to ask in between breaks of laughter, “burn chocolate?”

“I just wanted to make melted chocolate for strawberries!” Eva exclaims, the ghost of a smile hinting at the corner of her lips. “It looks romantic in movies, so you know. Why not try it? But I kind of, didn’t really know _how_ to do it. I just took a bunch of chocolate bars and tried to heat them up in a pan over the stove.”

Noora looks at her skeptically, still giggling. “And that set off all the fire alarms in the building?”

“Well, I wanted to take a shower. So I did and I couldn’t smell the burning chocolate. That, mixed with the steam from my shower, set off the fire alarms.” Eva’s looking down now at her feet, her cheeks turning rosy pink from cold and shame.

Noora has a strong urge to reach for her hand, in a comforting manner. “You’re supposed to use chocolate chips, first of all. You fill a pot with some water and then gradually put the chocolate chips inside it, stirring the chocolate altogether until it’s completely melted.”

Eva looks up, her lips curled in a half-smile. “Wow. I should have just come over to your place instead of ‘trying to burn down the entire apartment complex’.”

Eva’s nice and Eva’s funny which are the _only_ reasons for why Noora does what she does next. “You could come over sometime and we can make it. If you want. And hopefully this time we won’t burn down the complex.”

“That does sound more enticing than getting yelled at by Roger,” Eva muses, sparing a look at their furious landlord, pointing fingers at Eva while conversing with firemen. “What do you say, tomorrow at 17:00?”

 

_///_

 

Eva’s a little accident-prone, Noora’s noticed.

The day after the fire alarm incident, when Eva comes over to her apartment to make melted chocolate, she brings an entire bottle of the most expensive wine in Norway. After tripping over her own two feet, she manages to drop the expensive bottle of wine, shards of glass exploding all over the floor as Noora’s plush, white, fluffy carpet begins to soak up the dark liquid.

Eva freezes, her eyes widening into saucers. “ _Fy faen!_ Oh my fucking goodness, I am so fucking sorry, Noora, oh my God I can’t believe I just fucking did that -“

Eva continues rambling on and Noora has never heard someone creatively use the word “fuck” so many times in _one_ sentence. It’s endearing, really, and Noora probably should be upset but instead she has to cover her mouth to stop laughing.

“Are you seriously laughing at me right now?” Eva asks dubiously, as she tries to swat at the spilled wine with tissues from her purse.

Noora stirs into action and heads to the bathroom to grab an old towel she hasn’t washed yet. Coming back into the living room, she drops the towel and this time, she does reach for Eva’s hand to stop her from scrubbing the floor. “You’re funny.”

“That’s not very nice to say to someone who’s experienced three traumatic events in the course of 24 hours.”

“Three traumatic events?” Noora asks, standing back up and gesturing for Eva to follow her to the kitchen.

“My friend has been dating this guy for about three months now, right? And I figured it was time I met him. My friend told me he works at Kaffebrenneriet but not to say anything overly embarrassing to him. And I head over there right before his shift is about to end and order a coffee but Noora, this man is _beautiful_.” Eva gushes as they sit at Noora’s small kitchen table. “Like, think of the sun shining on a beautiful day and angels coming out to sing. He’s is _even_ more gorgeous. So I’m already making a fool of myself by staring at him - trying not to drool - when he asks me what I want to order. I don’t even like coffee! But I ordered a medium black and tried to strike up a conversation. He loves movies and knows everything there is about Norwegian films, American films, British films, you name it.”

“It sounds like you’re in love with him.” Noora teases.

Eva waves her hand dismissively. “If you saw him, you’d understand. So he’s in the middle of telling me about this crazy plot twist in a Danish film he liked when he hands me my coffee - and Noora, I shit you not - I spilled it _all_ over him.”

Noora looks at her exasperatedly as if they’ve been friends for a million years and she’s used to this kind of crazy behavior. “Eva, _how_?”

“I was too busy staring into his eyes to notice that he was handing me the coffee and when I reached out to grab it, I didn’t realize I was grabbing the lid of the cup and my grip wasn’t strong enough for it not to splatter all over his pants!”

Noora warily looks between Eva and the small bowl of chocolate chips on the table. “Do I even want to trust you handling a stove?”

“I might be too busy staring into your eyes, so no.” Eva laughs, before realizing what she’s just said and freezes once again, a deer-in-the-headlights expression dawning her face.

Noora can’t help but look at her fondly, not even trying to hide the giant smile spreading over her face. “Are you usually this flirty with strangers?”

Eva’s still slightly frozen as she stutters, “I’m drunk?”

“It’s 17:29.”

“I’m … still hungover. From the weekend.”

“It’s Wednesday?”

“Well technically, you’re not a stranger.” Eva blurts out, as if she’s had an epiphany. “We were in the same Spanish class, for what? A day?”

“A week.”

“So technically, you can consider me your best friend.”

Noora wonders what Sana would have to say about that. “And best friends say flirty things to each other?”

Eva tilts her head to the side and her eyes are scanning Noora’s profile. Noora can see every golden and brown fleck in her pupils. Eva has freckles across her nose, that are nearly invisible unless you stare at her for a _long_ period of time, like Noora _might_ be doing now.

She’s just about slap herself out of her reverie, when Eva regains her composure. “Well best friends _can_ make melted chocolate with each other. What do you say?”

And they only burn the mix _once_.

 

///

 

“What happened to your vase of roses?” Sana asks, a couple weeks later as she comes into Noora’s apartment to study for their upcoming Calculus exam.

Noora snorts at the memory. “Eva.”

“Eva?” Sana turns around, raising her thin eyebrow in confusion.

The previous night, the rather klutzy brunette had been drunkenly impersonating her roommate, Vilde, trying to woo over some guy they had met at a pregame. Except, Eva could barely stand on her own two feet when she was sober so Noora probably should have known to move her precious vase of red roses out of the way before Eva came toppling down on them.

The poor girl had accidentally gotten a shard of glass in the area between her thumb and index finger and Noora _might_ have been too focused on Eva’s bleeding hand to actually clean up the mess.

“She’s my friend who lives upstairs on the sixth floor.” Noora explains, as she fishes a dustpan and broom out of her storage closet. “She’s a bit accident-prone.”

“Ah, I see.” Sana hums as she gingerly picks up the ruined flowers. “Do you think she’ll get you new ones?”

“What?” Noora practically screeches in the poor girl’s face. Sana gives her the infamous look of disgust. “I mean, why would she? We’re just friends. It’s not like we’re dating, or anything.”

“Why wouldn’t she?” Sana counters as they both stand up. “If I ruined my friend’s flowers, I’d get her new ones.”

“Well, feel free to get me new roses from the supermarket anytime you want.” Noora jokes, leading Sana into the kitchen. “Anyways, it’s not like anything’s going on between us.”

Noora can _see_ Sana raising her eyebrow suspiciously, even though her back is turned to her. “I never said there was.”

“You implied it.”

“I did not.”

“You did too.”

“ _You’re_ implying it.” Sana accuses, tossing the roses in the trash. “And there’s nothing wrong with you moving on, especially once _he_ has.”

They’re talking about William - he who shall not be named. After convincing Noora to study at the University of London with him last year, they both thought they were going to have their happy ever after. Except, William’s father was _finally_ starting to pay attention to him and there were more serious things for William to be worrying about than “some blonde girl”, as she had been referred to at a dinner once.

Right in front of her face.

So Noora packed up her bags, after William was in no hurry to defend her honor, and she had to find out through _Instagram_ that he found another blonde girl, who didn’t give him half as much shit as she did for wanting to please his father.

Noora sighs and she sits down at her table across from Sana. “Yeah but, I keep thinking he’s going to come fight for me, you know? Realize that giving all of this up was never what he really wanted.”

Sana never looks at her with pity, which is one of the reasons why Noora would take a bullet for her best friend. She simply shrugs. “If he was going to come back Noora, he would have by now.”

It’s been a year, Noora realizes. He would have come back by now.

 

///

 

That night, after Sana has fallen asleep on her textbook and Noora was trying to figure out how detrimental to her grade failing Calculus would be, there’s a soft knock at her door. 

She groggily picks herself up off of the couch and pads over to the door, rubbing her eyes as she prepares for the bright hallway lights to blind her.

She wonders if she is hallucinating because when she opens the door, there is nobody there. There’s a shadow at the bottom of her feet and she tiredly looks down to see a beautiful sea-green vase, with an Aztec tribal pattern painted onto the sides, full of a large bouquet of red roses.

Noora stares at the predicament before her for what feels like hours until she hears someone stirring behind her. 

“Turn off the light.” Sana groans, shifting onto her side.

Noora is too confused and sleepy to respond back coherently. “Roses.”

Sana snores back in response.

There’s a tiny envelope hidden under the red roses. Slowly, she bends down to pick up the piece of paper and folds it open.

_H_

And even though she still quite wasn’t awake yet, Noora feels her heart flutter and fly out of her chest.

Two weeks ago when Eva had sent her a friend request, she accidentally typed out “H” without finishing her message. Eva tried to explain herself but Noora found it funnier to tease her.

She thanks every God in the universe that it’s dark and Sana’s asleep so she can’t see her cheeks flush.

 

///

 

Noora meets the force of nature that is Vilde a few days later.

She’s at Eva’s apartment for once, tutoring the brunette for her upcoming Spanish midterm - if it can even be called “tutoring”. The textbook and all of Eva’s past homework assignments are on the table, but Eva just _had_ to show her this hilarious Youtube video on Spanish conjugates and suddenly they’re binge-watching all of Justin Bieber’s old music videos. 

Vilde storms into the apartment as Eva’s singing - very off-key, but at least she’s pretty - the words in English to “ _Baby, baby, baby ohhh!!!”_

“Eva!”

Noora and the accused freeze in their place, Justin’s voice still blaring in the background.

Vilde’s glaring at the ceiling, but when she looks at Noora she tries to put on a semi-positive face, her pale skin looking dreary under the harsh kitchen light. “ _Hei._ Eva did not inform me that she was going to be having guests today.”

“Oh this is Noora,” Eva explains after she shuts off the music. “She’s helping me study for Spanish.”

Vilde merely raises her eyebrow.

“Nice to meet you.” Noora says politely.

“At least it’s not Isak today.” Vilde mutters in return. “Eva, could you please keep the music down? I have a very bad headache and I have a date tonight. _Takk.”_

Eva nods her head and shrugs as Vilde leaves the room. “I don’t know why she’s been so grumpy lately. Are you hungry? I can order a pizza.”

“What kind of pizza?”

“Pepperoni and pineapples.”

Noora scrunches her face. “Pineapples don’t belong on pizza.”

“Oh, are you the Queen of Pizza now? You can decide what does and doesn’t go on pizza?”

“ _Ja_?” Noora says as if that should be obvious, bobbing her head for extra measure. “Haven’t you heard?”

“No, you must have forgotten to tell me.”

“Well, I’m telling you now. Pineapples don’t belong on pizza.”

“Fine, if you insist. Do you like kebab?”

“I could make spaghetti?”

“How about burgers?”

“Deal.” They leave their forgotten textbooks on the table and grab their coats, despite the warming February air. As they pass by Vilde’s closed door, Noora stops and points.

“Should we ask her if she wants some?”

Eva shrugs. “Vilde’s on some sort of health kick now. She’d probably say no.”

“What kind of health kick?”

Eva shrugs again and ruffles her long, mermaid-like hair to the other side of her head. “I don’t know. She eats a lot of vegetables. She doesn’t like good food anymore.”

“Are you sure she wouldn’t even want a burger?” Noora asks skeptically.

“You ask. She bites my head off every time I ask her to eat, something small like even a banana.”

That’s her third cue that something isn’t right in this picture. Vilde looks too pale to be healthy, the skin under her eyes too sunken. Her sudden grumpiness and pounding headache were telling, but not enough to make any diagnoses.

Her change in eating habits were the icing on the cake, reminding Noora of a darker period in her life.

Noora knocks hesitantly and presses her ear on the door. “Vilde?”

A muffled groan. “What.”

“Eva and I are thinking of going out for something to eat. Is there anything we can bring you back?”

There's a bit of silence. “Do you think you could pick me up some fruit? An apple, maybe?”

“Okay, Vilde.”

Noora’s almost too far away from the door to hear a soft, “Thank you,” from the other side.

Eva’s staring at her in wonder as they leave the apartment. “She’s _never_ that nice to me when I ask if she wants food.”

“You have to be careful with her,” Noora advises gently. “She might be going through a hard time.”

“What? Why?”

“Self-esteem issues. I think she has a very negative perception of herself right now so she’s trying to look slimmer.”

Eva muses over that point, while she pushes the elevator button. “Oh. You think she’s…you know,”

Eva opens her mouth and mimics sticking her finger down her throat.

“I don’t know.” Noora says honestly. “But I would just watch out if I were you -“

The elevator opens as Noora’s talking and true to Eva fashion, disaster ensues.

The person in the elevator is not paying attention to the scene in front of him and Eva forgets to make sure there’s no person inside the elevator before walking in. 

Before Noora can actually tell her to watch out in that moment, Eva and their landlord collide into each other - Roger’s styrofoam cup of coffee splashing all over Eva’s pretty white blouse.

Eva gasps loudly in shock, the hot liquid staining the fabric covering her lacy bra. Roger groans and glares at Eva, “ _Mohn!”_

“Are you blaming me right now? The fuck? What is wrong with you?” Eva shouts back and Noora can already see a possible eviction notice. She pulls Eva back by her elbow, calling over her shoulder, “Bye Roger!”

 

///

 

It’s an accident that Vilde and Sana meet.

Sana was over Noora’s apartment, watching one of their favorite romantic comedies on a Friday night. They were perfectly content splitting a large bowl of popcorn and Dr. Pepper.

Then there’s loud knocking at Noora’s door and even louder giggles behind it. Noora yawns as she gets up, pauses the movie, and opens the door.

It’s Eva, of course, who’s already hugging Noora before the door is even fully open. Her cheeks are very, very pink and her green eyes are very, very bright. She’s giggling and trying to form coherent sentences, which would otherwise be very endearing if Vilde wasn’t standing right behind her, tapping her foot impatiently.

“ _Eva_ , we have to go. Now.” Vilde urges her inebriated friend.

“You said I could invite Noora if you got to bring a guy back home.” Eva reminds her petulantly, causing Vilde’s cheeks to turn equally as pink. Eva gives Noora a very big smile and says, “Come out with us.”

“Where are you going?”

“Vilde’s going on a date with this guy at a karaoke club. You know SYNG? Come along!”

Sana’s behind her, watching the scene go down in amusement.

“Well, uh -“

“She’ll go.” Sana decides for her, turning off the TV.

Eva’s eyes brighten. “Yay! Please say you’ll come too!”

“ _Eva_!” Vilde says sharply, scratching behind her ear. “I - We’re going to meet people there. Remember? We - Well, we can’t just, like, invite everyone.”

Sana merely raises her perfectly shaped eyebrow. Noora didn’t miss Vilde’s hesitant scan of Sana either, her eyes lingering a little too long and uncomfortably on her hijab.

Noora crosses her arms over her chest defiantly, despite the fact Eva’s still got her arms wrapped around her shoulders. “I’ll come if Sana can come.”

Blissfully ignorant to any tension happening around her, Eva nods her head vigorously. “Of course Sana can come! Hi Sana. I’m Eva. Sana, Sana, Sana. That is _such_ a pretty name. I wish I had a pretty name.”

Despite her clear growing dislike towards Vilde, Sana manages a fond smile for Eva. “Hi, Eva. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Noora refrains from elbowing Sana in the gut and nearly drags Eva into her apartment, beckoning for Vilde to come in as well. “Give us like five minutes to put on something decent. We’ll be out of here before you know it.”

They’re out of there almost ten minutes later, which Vilde does not fail to remind them of multiple times. Sana almost cuts her head off, but Noora quickly apologizes and leads them out of her apartment.  
They take a cab over to SYNG, Noora, Eva, and Sana filed in the backseat, while Vilde claims the seat next to the driver. Eva offers to share her bottle of wine with them, but Sana doesn’t drink and Noora has taken it upon herself to make sure Eva doesn’t do anything stupid tonight.

She’s just carefully wrestled the bottle away from Eva when the first clash of the night starts.

“Where are you from, Sana?” Vilde asks innocently.

“Oslo.” 

“No, I mean like, where did you come from?”

Sana turns her head slowly to Noora, looking over Eva’s drooping head in the middle of them, like _where did you find this girl_? Noora shrugs and bites her lip. Eva hums as her body leans closer to Noora’s.

“I am from Oslo, Vilde.” Sana says shortly. “Where did _you_ come from?”

From the rearview mirror, Noora can see Vilde’s genuinely confused expression as if she was just realizing this conversation had taken a turn for the worse. “I’m from here?”

“Really? You don’t sound so sure. There are Muslims in Norway, Vilde. Even in Oslo, believe it or not.”

“Vilde’s mother sent her to boarding school when she was younger and all the kids used to bully her.” Eva says abruptly.

“ _Eva_!” Vilde snaps at her, whirling around in her seat to face her. The cab driver is watching them all uncomfortably. “You had _no_ right to say that!”

Eva looks at her with wide, puppy dog eyes, her hand suddenly on Noora’s thigh. “Say what?”

Noora tries to swat her hand away. “I’m sorry, Vilde. For what Eva said.”

“What did Eva say?” Eva asks Noora in all seriousness.

“I was just asking.” Vilde murmurs, after a while, fiddling with her hands in her lip. “All the boys used to ask that to Annie. Every time, she would say something different. Oslo. Iran. Pakistan. New York. London. I always thought I’d get the chance to ask her where she really came from. But one day, this boy said we weren’t allowed to talk to Annie anymore because her parents were thugs. Annie moved away after that, after we weren’t allowed to play with her anymore. I never got a chance to ask her.”

The taxi ride is silent. Uncomfortably silent. The driver is scratching his neck and Eva is blissfully mouthing the words to whatever American pop song is on the radio, completely in her own little world.

“I am from Oslo, Vilde.” Sana says again. Her voice is neither harsh nor gentle. After a moment, she adds softly, “But sometimes, I wish I were from Paris.”

Noora’s heart resumes beating. She hadn’t even realized she was holding her breath.

“Me too.” Vilde whispers back.

 

///

 

Vilde’s date is an awkward, blond fellow named Magnus.

He also has an entourage with him; three other boys that go by the names of Mahdi, Jonas, and Isak. 

“Isak!” Eva practically sings once she sees the blond boy, throwing her arms around his neck. “This is Noora!”

Isak turns to her, raising his eyebrows. “Ah, so you’re Noora.”

“ _Hei_.” She greets him, holding out her hand. _What does that mean_?

“Where’s Even?” Eva asks, still holding onto him for dear life.

“Some of us have to work. I’m sure he’d love to see you, so you could spill coffee all over his pants again.” Isak teases her, lifting her arms off of his neck. He looks back at Noora, his eyes asking her a question.

She frowns.

Then she sees his hands awkwardly holding Eva’s arms above his head.

“Oh!” She helps pull Eva’s body off of him and into a standing position. “Sorry. She’s a little drunk.”

“You’re not drunk enough!” Eva says giddily. 

Soon enough, they’ve acquired a nice table fit for eight people and are chatting amongst themselves. Vilde and Magnus are huddled close together, a single glass of champagne between them. She’s laughing loudly at something he’s saying, her eyes glued to his.

Apparently Jonas, Mahdi, and Isak all go to University of Oslo too and Sana and Isak are unknowingly in the same biology lecture. Their professor is reportedly an ignorant idiot who once called Sana’s hijab a burkha and likes to wear tight shirts without bras.

Sana’s trying to defend her by saying she’s allowed to wear whatever she wants. Isak argues that he should not be traumatized by what his professor is wearing every time he goes to class. Sana tells him not to over-sexualize their professor. Isak gives her a look of disbelief, sputtering out that he is in a _happily committed relationship, thank you very much_ and of course he does _not_ over-sexualize their professor.  
Jonas and Mahdi contribute every now and again to the argument, laughing and poking fun at Isak rather than defending him.

“Dude, does Even know you’re checking out your professor’s boobs!” Jonas teases, which causes Isak to roll his eyes so hard, Noora is concerned they might get stuck to the top of his head.

But Noora’s not paying too much attention to Isak, really.

Eva is magic in front of her eyes, giggling loudly as she tries to tell Noora this “really, really, really funny joke”. Her hazel eyes are brighter than the spotlight shining on the the stage and her laugh is more melodic than anyone who is trying to sing. Noora thinks there should be poems dedicated to Eva’s smile. There should be an art class at UiO that teaches all about the masterpiece that is Eva Kviig Mohn.

Noora’s not even slightly drunk, that’s the funny thing. She’s perfectly sober, attentive to the fact that Magnus and Vilde are making weird cat noises at each other. Attentive to Sana and Jonas talking about the current political climate in America that just so happens to be a shit show. Attentive to Isak and Mahdi daring each other to rap Nas.

But she’s only got eyes for Eva.

 

///

 

Eva, true to Eva fashion, manages to cause at least _one_ disaster.

She’s telling her second joke, waving her hands wildly in the air. “Why does Santa Clause have such a big sack?”

Across from her, she hears Jonas groan loudly. “Eva, that is your worst joke.”

Eva ignores him, looking at Noora expectantly.

Noora shrugs. “I dunno.”

“Because he only comes once a year!” Eva’s smile is so wide and she’s laughing to herself as she says the punchline that Noora can’t help but affectionately chuckle as well.

“See!” Eva sticks her tongue out childishly at Jonas. “Noora thinks I’m funny.”

“You can be funny. You just have bad jokes.”

“Okay, how about this one. What does one saggy boob say to another saggy boob?”

Isak curses and rolls his eyes. “Jesus Christ, can we stop talking about boobs for the night?”

Eva ignores him, her eyes only on Noora.

“I dunno.”

“If we don’t get some support, people will think we’re nuts!”

“I think they just get worse.” Sana mutters behind her. 

“Oh, you’re right.” Jonas confirms. “They really do just get worse.”

Eva huffs and cross her arms over her chest, inadvertently causing her own, definitely _not_ saggy, boobs to swell over her low cut top. 

Noora is definitely not staring. She impulsively takes a sip of champagne and tries to relieve her suddenly very dry throat.

“I’m going to ask the whole karaoke bar if they think my jokes are funny!” Eva decides suddenly, standing straight up from her chair. Even if she were sober, that was a horrible idea. 

All the blood rushes to her head at an alarming pace and Eva sways a little before Noora starts to see everything happen in slow motion.  
There’s a waiter behind her. A waiter who is diligently balancing six more bottles of champagne on his plate and is not looking at Eva at the moment. Eva is not looking at the waiter behind her as she tries to stand straight.

Noora reaches out for her friend, trying to grab her arm before she can fall backwards but it’s too late. By the time Noora is even standing up herself, Eva’s fallen over her own two feet and six glasses of champagne have splattered onto the floor. Vilde is staring at her roommate in horror.

“ _Faen_.” Mahdi says with wide, wide eyes. “That was some good champagne.”

 

///

 

They’re politely asked to leave the bar.

 

///

 

“I said I was sorry.” Eva mumbles sadly to Noora, as they sit outside on the curb waiting for a cab.

The thing is - no one is mad at her. In fact, they all thought the whole thing was bat-shit hilarious.

But no one was quite ready for the night to be over, not even Magnus and Vilde who were probably ready to wrestle each other’s clothes off. Not even grumpy, adorable Isak who was drunk and needy and wanted his boyfriend. So Noora suggested that the rest of them go on and have fun, while she took Eva home and made sure she was alright.

“Are you sure?” Vilde asked, watching her roommate apologize to Mahdi over and over, even though he had been trying to convince her he - out of all of them - had no reason to be mad. “I can take her back to our place.”

“And miss out on your date?” Noora raised her eyebrows, looking towards Magnus who shuffles on his feet awkwardly behind her. “It’s fine, Vilde. Really. Just look out for Sana, okay?”

It wasn’t really as if Sana needed to be looked out for. She was having a merry ole time face-timing Isak’s boyfriend - who was still very much at work - with Jonas, pinching Isak’s baby cheeks.

“Okay.” Vilde said, going over to give Eva a hug. “Be good, okay?”

“I’m so sorry,” Eva continued to miserably apologize. “I am so, so sorry.”

“Eva, you are fine.” Vilde reassured her and kissed her quickly on the cheek. “Be good. I’ll see you later.”

It’s warm enough not to need a jacket but the two still huddle closely together as they wait for a cab.

“Why are you sorry?” Noora dares to ask.

“Because I ruin everything!” Eva says leaning her head on Noora’s shoulder. Her voice sounds choked up, as if the poor girl is close to tears. “I nearly set our entire apartment complex on fire. I spilled wine _all_ over your expensive rug and hot coffee all over poor Even. I ruined your beautiful vase of roses and made Roger spill coffee all over the elevator floor which is going to cost him ‘so much money’ to fix -“

“That wasn’t your -“

“And now I ruined Vilde’s date.” Eva moans and Noora’s heart shatters a little when she hears Eva sniff, watching her hand wipe furiously at her cheek. “I ruined my  best friend’s relationship. I ruined my own first relationship. Why can’t I just be normal? Why do I have to mess everything up?”

Noora grabs her hand and squeezes it, pressing her lips to the top of Eva’s head. “Eva, shhh. You don’t ruin everything. You are the most caring person I know. You’re also kind, helpful, funny, and incredible. Don’t think like this.”

“I’m not smart.” Eva mutters instead, sniffing again and wiping at her nose. “I’m not important.”

Noora could whisper, _nei, nei, nei that’s not true_ , over and over but those are words that don’t really mean anything.

So she kneels in front of Eva, grasping her two hands and staring her straight in the eyes. “You are important. You’re important to me. And who cares about the past? That’s over with. It doesn’t have to define your future if you don’t let it. You are smart, Eva. You are important, beautiful, and sure, you’re clumsy. But I still lo -“

Noora stops herself in the nick of time but then chastises herself. Friends loved each other, didn’t they? Best friends could say “I still love you anyways” without it being a big deal, why was she making it a big deal?

“I still love you anyways.” Noora tries again and it’s so easy. The five words flow out her mouth so easily. With William, nothing was ever easy. Every word was a fight they both wanted to win. Even when she said, “I love you,” it was never enough.

But Eva’s head perks up and her eyes are a bit less cloudy. “Say that again.”

“What?”

“Tell me that you love me. Again.”

“Eva, you’re being ridiculous.”

“ _Nei_ ,” Eva says softly, dropping her voice down to a whisper. “I’m being romantic.”

And she leans into kiss Noora, bumping their heads together gently and her warm lips that taste like sparkling champagne. It’s a little clumsy but Noora thinks she’s magic. There’s no lie in her fire, in her existence, in her kiss. It starts off gentle and innocent, until Eva’s tongue passionately dances into Noora’s mouth and they’re both trying to take control. Eva’s hands are clasped tightly around Noora’s neck, her fingers pressing so hard into her pale skin there’ll surely be bruises in the morning.

They have to pull apart because air is a common necessity for the both of them. Eva’s lips are swollen and she’s grinning wickedly as if she hadn’t been crying into Noora’s shoulder two minutes ago.

“You’re good at that.”

Noora thinks her cheeks might be as red as her lipstick, that’s now smeared all over Eva’s mouth, and suddenly becomes very shy. “You’re not half bad yourself.”

Eva giggles and presses her forearms against Noora’s shoulders, cupping the sides of her face. “I don’t know, I think I could use a little more practice.”

Noora takes the bait without a second thought, trying to move her body closer to Eva while wrapping her arms around the other girl’s neck, when she realizes their predicament.

They’re still sitting on the curb outside SYNG and are beginning to attract attention.

“Take this back to my place?” Noora whispers a little breathlessly on Eva’s lips.

“ _Fy faen_ , that long?”

 Noora drags her finger slowly down Eva’s chest, looking up at her under her long eyelashes. Her finger stops dangerously under Eva’s belly button, enough to make the brunette gasp suddenly. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

“What are you waiting for - let’s _go!”_

 

///

 

In the morning they might have to worry about a frantic call from Vilde, who is screaming hysterically about Eva forgetting to turn off her flat iron before they left the apartment the night before.

 

///

 

Three months later, they might have to worry about Eva visiting Isak while he’s working in the lab on a project - to gush about how _amazing_ and _pretty_ Noora is - and Eva might swoon a little too dramatically and cause a funnel of carefully prepared chemicals to spill all over them and their hair may be considerably shorter when their significant others find them later.

 

///

 

In eight months time, they might have to worry about Eva trying to be romantic and setting up candles in Noora’s apartment that she’s now moved into and a tiny fire that might start beginning with the tablecloth Eva’s grandmother received as a wedding present almost fifty years ago.

 

///

 

When their graduation from University comes, they might have to worry about Eva wearing wedges that are a little too tall for her and a dress that is a little too small for her and stairs that are a little too narrow for her _not_ to trip down and a video that might live on the internet forever.

 

///

 

In a few years time when they move out of their beloved apartment and say a very happy good-bye to Roger, they might have to worry about Eva being put in charge of the chinaware and the silverware for their new _home_ \- but really, Noora should’ve known better.

 

///

 

And as they reach their late twenties, they might have to worry about fiery arguments over how big their cake should be (Noora’s terrified that Eva’s going to somehow fall _into_ it in an expensive white dress and Eva’s a little annoyed that Noora doesn’t have faith in her to stand on her own two feet) or whether or not Eva should have the train of her dreams (Noora can already see the fabric gathering up by Eva’s feet and her future bride-to-be flying in the air but Eva rolls her eyes and says she’s being dramatic right before she accidentally walks into a wall).

 

///

 

After they’re well into their mid-thirties with established careers and their best friends by their sides, they might have to start worrying about those little monsters that run around the house in bare feet, with paint streaked on the wallpaper Noora was so keen on, because Vilde and Magnus are on their _second_ child and “Oh you guys would be such perfect mothers! I mean, girls? Like you girls would be such perfect mothers?” even though on a good day, Eva can barely keep herself in one piece.

 

///

 

But, in that cab ride back to their apartment complex from SYNG, Noora smiles as the brunette laughs at her own dirty jokes with their fingers locked together, trying to attack Noora’s neck with her lips, and her heart thumping in a way it never had with _him_ , and just _knows_.

 _This_ is one thing they will never have to worry about. 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> the title is a quote by charles bukowksi. thanks charles for the quote :)))
> 
> hope you guys liked it! i'm still expecting julie to pull through this season with some nooreva because we all know they're in love, so fingers crossed. ALSO this fic was inspired by a prompt on tumblr (noorabakkoush) - an AU where noora is a firefighter and eva is an accident-prone barista. i know pretty much nothing about firefighters but i thought eva being very accident-prone was hilarious, so thank you for the idea!!!
> 
> leave comments and kudos or come find me on tweeter (wckdisaks) to talk about how much nooreva NEEDS to happen ily xx


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